


Flarrow Shenanigans

by wyvernsongs



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: De-aging, Fuck the timeline, Gen, I do what I want, More characters to be added, Multi, Slice of Life, Various Headcannons, barry the human garbage disposal, because, blatant misuse of powers, eddie and tommy are alive, now with rogues, oliver "throws elaborate parties to stay relevant and inconspicuous" queen, social media fun, turned into animals!AU, updated whenever inspiration strikes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-07
Updated: 2018-05-20
Packaged: 2018-12-12 04:05:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 10,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11729148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wyvernsongs/pseuds/wyvernsongs
Summary: Drabbles--connected unless otherwise stated.I just need more of a friends/family dynamic between Team Arrow and Team Flash. So here's self indulgent interactions between the favourites.""--hello?" Oliver pulled the phone back from his ear to inspect when loud static filled the speakers.He looked up in time to see Felicity get attacked on all sides by flying paper through the glass window of his office. To Felicity's credit, she didn't really react.Oliver glanced over at the one seat to the side of his desk that he had dubbed Thea's--only because she had dragged it so close to sit and breathe over his neck and be a general lovable nuance--to see Barry beaming at him."





	1. Adventures of Having a Human Garbage Disposal™ as a Friend Part I

**Author's Note:**

> I don't think there's enough content about these dorks using their abilities and/or powers in their day-to-day lives. 
> 
> If there are any spelling errors, please let me know! Feedback of any kind is appreciated. 
> 
> Open to prompts or ideas for future chapters. :)

Oliver drummed his fingers against the desk in front of him as he pressed the 'call' button next to Barry Allen's contact information on his fancy smart phone Tommy needled him into buying. (What happened to regular old flip phones? Less complicated.)  
  
" _Oliver! Wasaa~ap!_ "  
  
Oliver jumped at the sudden greeting. Had the phone even rang?  
  
"...Barry."  
  
" _You're no fun._ "  
  
"I'm aware. I have a dilemma."  
  
" _You need backup? You know I've got your back, Ollie._ " Oliver felt warmth fill him at Barry’s words, and leaned forward to shut the lid of his work computer and then leaned back in his seat for something to do with it.  
  
"It's something like that. You know that large charity fundraiser a week ago?"  
  
" _Talk about a publicity stunt and a half to keep up appearances. I almost wish I was there to see it happen in person._ "  
  
Oliver hummed and continued, "Well, we have a lot of leftover food we need to get rid of. The shelters around us won't take anymore because it's all perishable and they don't want to run the risk of getting people sick so we don't want to--hello?" Oliver pulled the phone back from his ear to inspect when loud static filled the speakers.  
  
He looked up in time to see Felicity get attacked on all sides by flying paper through the glass window of his office. To Felicity's credit, she didn't really react.  
  
Oliver glanced over at the one seat to the side of his desk that he had dubbed Thea's--only because she had dragged it so close to sit and breathe over his neck and be a general lovable nuance--to see Barry beaming at him.  
  
"You had me at 'food'." He said cheerily.  
  
Oliver fondly rolled his eyes. 


	2. Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver tries to get their respective teams to train together. Of course, everyone gets distracted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some discussion about powers and morals
> 
> also dorks being dorks

Oliver had taken Barry and his team back out to the warehouse on the outskirts of Central early in the morning in the hopes of getting the other man up to a better level of awareness in combat. Barry had a habit of becoming single minded and focused on one thing in the heat of battle, therefore very easy to sneak up on or outsmart.

The morning had actually been spent by Cisco and Diggle discussing which action genre movies made in the past five or six years Oliver, apparently, absolutely had to watch, with Caitlin and Felicity bonding over musicals--when asked to sing, Caitlin had nervously laughed and changed the subject to some science current event he didn’t know about and therefore tuned out (Oliver wasn’t too keen on current events in general anymore).

Barry, himself, had been using his speed non-stop to catch various projectiles shot at him and cheekily put them back into Oliver’s quiver without stopping long enough for Oliver to get a close ranged hit in. (When Oliver told him he shouldn’t be using his powers and to face him hand-to-hand, Barry had said, “Ah, no. I’m not falling for that one again. Thanks,” as well as grumbling about not being a pin cushion--although his words were warbled and a bit hard to make out as he was zipping by Oliver and around the warehouse floor while saying them.)

In the spirit of letting their teams recuperate and just talk (because apparently, Oliver mused, no one was much into getting down to business, as proven by a whiny “ _dude_ , it’s way too hot for this,” from their resident graphic T-shirt obsessed nerd friend), the archer had called a break and let their respective teams mingle as he, himself, went to go through and pack various weapons and equipment he had brought in their unmarked van. He resigned himself to having them meet up and train the following weekend; Oliver was in Central City for a business venture with Kord Industries, anyway, so he’d be staying for a while.

Oliver walked back into the warehouse to see Barry staring intently at something in front of him. He had dropped in a crouch and looked as intimidating as Oliver hoped he would when trying to train him in hand-to-hand combat earlier in the day.

Reacting, Oliver let himself drop into a fighting stance as well, quickly casing the room with ease, trying to find the source of Barry’s concern.

He heard Felicity’s heels click behind him and her quiet “ _oof_ ” as she didn’t stop as quickly as he did, clumsily running into him and dropping her tablet on the unforgiving concrete.

Barry didn’t move at the clatter and his eyes narrowed into slits.

After a couple of beats of silence, Oliver, confused, slowly righted himself and opened his mouth to ask for the situation--when Barry made a sudden quick hand movement, both arms blurring out of focus. Oliver's ears were then promptly assaulted with the sound of a sonic boom.

Felicity flailed backwards and caught herself on the frame of the door, glasses askew and eyes wide. Oliver, himself, had dropped back into a crouch and covered his ears with his hands.

" _HA_! Got it." Barry crowed, looking entirely too self satisfied.

"Dude, ever heard of over-kill?" Cisco called from Oliver's left, gnawing on a lollipop. Oliver decidedly did not jump at his appearance. He would have sensed Cisco there--he's serious--if his ears hadn't been ringing so loudly.

"Wait--" Felicity starts.

"Fly has been bugging me all day." Barry elaborated impishly, shooting them a small smile from across the warehouse.

"...Barry, you're fast enough... You could have just caught it." Oliver pointed out.

Barry frowned at that.

"So nice he couldn't hurt a fly is ruled out. Fly is brutally murdered. Peace be with it." Cisco teased, walking further in the room to stop by his friend as Barry stared at the palms of his hands with an aghast expression on his face.

Cisco looked over at his hands, too, "Well, I don't see bug guts. You missed it."

"No...I definitely felt it..." Barry mused, squinting at his hands.

"Gross." Cisco put in, sounding impressed.

"It's just..I think I may have atomised it...?" Barry trailed off, looking back up to Cisco to gauge his expression.

Oliver's eyebrows rose up to his hairline.

"Dude! That's awesome! ...Seriously, though, it was over-kill."

"It got right into my ear, I wasn't about to show mercy!"

"Stone cold killer."

"I'm terrible. Lock me up." Barry said, deadpan.

"If he can do that to a fly, what does that say about his abilities in a fight?" Felicity spoke worriedly, leaning closer to him to be heard, “Is he holding back all the time? What happens if he can’t control himself?”

Oliver glanced Barry and back to her, thinking of words to reply with.

Barry and Cisco, still bickering, seeming to have not heard Felicity’s hushed words, drew Oliver’s attention back to them when Barry jibbed, "I have failed this city. Put me out of my misery so I can bug no more."

Heaving a sigh, Oliver stooped down to pick up Felicity’s tablet, noting that the corner of the screen cracked in the fall. “We need to help him hone when too much is too much and vis a vis. I don’t think he understands the magnitude of his abilities, just yet.” The blond righted himself and pushed the tablet into Felicity’s hands, “But I think, subconsciously, he’s limiting himself. He knows physics. He knows how much damage momentum and speed can cause. I’m not sure he’s connected it consciously. That he’s speed, itself. When he does, we’ll have one hell of an ally.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t mentioned the flip. Him switching on us.” Diggle murmured quietly, hushed as they had been speaking before, having walked up and listened in to the start of the conversation, presumably. Oliver didn’t feel too bad about not noticing him--as opposed to Cisco, the man was a trained soldier, and very good at stealth. This didn’t stop Oliver from rubbing his still ringing ears, with a grimace.

After a few more beats went by, Oliver spoke up again, leaning forward to be heard over the sound of Cisco and Barry laughing, “An eclipse can never truly blot out the sun, can it?”

“That was almost philosophical,” Diggle raised his eyebrows and over exaggerated an impressed twist to his lips. Oliver rolled his eyes and bumped Diggle’s shoulder with his own, playfully.

“He’s been through so much already,” Felicity commented, rubbing the pad of her thumb over the cracks in her screen with a frown, “We can be there for him just in case. Be his support group. He can’t exactly talk to his foster family about the kinds of things he sees being a vigilante and them to get it--the responsibilities. The...pressure. We can.”

“So that’s our contingency plan for him going dark. Our friendship.” Oliver stated flatly.

“That’s basically it. You seemed to have faith in him in your spiel before.” Diggle ribbed.

The archer rubbed a hand over his face, “I suppose you’re right. We won’t let him go far enough to have to have an actual contingency plan. I want to keep him as a friend, not an asset or a pawn.”

“Aw. Look at little Oliver, all grown up.” Felicity smiled sweetly at him, miming wiping a tear from her eye. Oliver’s flat stare from before made a reappearance.

“I mean, not that you aren’t already grown. _You_ -You’re very big.” Felicity stumbled out. Both of Oliver’s eyebrows rose, and a snort sounded in front of them. Diggle nodded to Cisco and Barry in acknowledgement.

Felicity’s eyes widened, “I mean! I didn’t mean, I mean--not that you’re not big in the, _the_...you know I mean, I wouldn’t know--I meant you’re just a _large_ man! In general!”

Barry just smiled encouragingly. Oliver looked decidedly more amused than put out.

“You have nothing to prove!” Felicity finished, squeaking out.

“Oh _man_ ,” Cisco said, tossing his empty sucker stick at the trash can, “And I thought you were the only person I knew to put a foot in their mouth like that, Barry. But no, no--that was spectacular. On a whole new level. _Impresionante, realmente_.”

Felicity giggled, high pitched and nervous.

Oliver wondered why he put up with this group, and when Diggle bumped his shoulder back with his own, he felt the easy sense of comradery around him and he knew: he wouldn’t give this up even if he wanted to.

“Ca~aitlin, there you are! I need you to check if my ears are bleeding.” Cisco called out to the biologist who had just made her way into the warehouse door near them.

Oliver then wondered if he could get away with terrorising Cisco with arrows… just a little bit. Barry looked at him, amused, and shook his head, seeming to know his train of thoughts.

“Back to work,” Oliver grazed out, turning to walk back to the van, hearing exasperated sighs behind him.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, my stuff isn't beta'd so I kinda....squint and tilt my head at my writing for a couple of hours and hope for the best. So feel free to point anything out!
> 
> Any requests?
> 
> And comments are love. ♥️


	3. I've Got Another Puzzle For You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver should really pay attention to what bottle he's grabbing. 
> 
> Gen, casual dick talk, text speak

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Low key love social media in fanfiction.

>Received from Man in Tights 09:34: barry

<Sent 09:35: ollie

> you're a science nerd

< flatterer

> how would one get tanning lotion off quickly

< ?? wash it  
< mb baking soda  
< or coconut oil n major exfoliating

> sensitive skin areas

< ...hmmm  
< sensitive...like ur face?

> ...

< well i mean  
< wait  
< no  
< no way

> so I may have been a little tipsy with someone and grabbed tanning lotion instead of lube

< ollie no  
< does tht mean theres some1 w/ matching orange genitals

> so do you know how to get it off or not

< wait no i dont believe u  
< pics or it didnt happen

> are you serious

< deadly  
< y do u need tanning lotion anyway

> [received image attachment]

< wow i didnt think ud actually send me a dick pic

> is that not what you asked

< yes well  
< didnt think ud do it  
< id say nice pic but u kno  
< orange  
< staring me in the face  
<cant take it seriously lmao

> barry

< oompa loompa

> barry no

< doompadee do

> no willy wonka references

< k fine

> how does one remove orange from penis

< honestly id just let it fade  
< obv keep it v clean  
< shld b fine

> how am I going to explain this

< u can go w/o sex 4 a week or 2 i believe in u  
< but 1st  
< walk into the club like yo whaddup my dick is orange

> I am not amused

< im screen shotting all of this k thnxbye

> barry don't you dare

< 8D


	4. Not Quite Island of Lost Dreams (But Close Enough)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So Cisco's that kind crazy scientist now. Someone help him. 
> 
> Team Arrow is just in constant states of varying alarm when it comes to Team Flash. 
> 
> What's a drabble series without a "whoops they all turned into animals" bit?

"We got your message asking for help. What's the situation?" Oliver called out, before turning the corner into STAR Lab's main cortex, Felicity and Diggle following. Before Oliver could steel himself, 140 pounds of fur and lean muscle tackled him to the floor.

It took the archer a few moments after his head stopped spinning to process that there was a weight on his chest. He squinted, almost cross-eyed, to see two massive clawed paws covering his pectorals.

Following the lean lines of furry legs from the paws, past a muscular chest, and up to the creature's face, Oliver recoiled as he realised a fully grown cheetah was staring him cooly in the eye.

Distracted by movement behind the wild cat, Oliver chanced a glance behind it to see a long tail flicking back and forth. The cheetah extended its claws and pressed lightly against his shirt, poised for danger, but not quite following through with it. _Pay attention to me_ , the creature seemed to have said with the action. Studying the creature's face, Oliver felt familiarity tugging at the edge of his mind at the animal's big green eyes.

From Oliver's peripheral, he could see Diggle drawing his gun and levelling it at the big cat. The cheetah, however, seemed to notice the gun, too. Oliver felt the creature's claws press into his shirt more, threatening to draw blood. Oliver idly wondered if it would have pulls in the fabric while the more conscious part of his brain had him hold his breath and stay as still as he could. The cheetah locked eyes with Diggle, bared its teeth, and then let out a long threatening low growl.

"Oh crap! Don't shoot!" Cisco's voice called out to them, panicked, from somewhere behind the cheetah on his chest. Oliver saw Diggle holster his gun, felt the cat's claws retract completely, and the animal's attention return to him with an amused look on its face. If animals could look so humanly amused.

"What--" Oliver began, before the cat lowered its head, causing the blond to tense; watching as the cat's jaw opened, letting sharp white canines gleam dangerously. Against his better judgment, Oliver screwed his eyes shut.

He felt a warm, wet, sand paper-y thing run across his face, causing the blond's eyes to fly open. The cat then sat back on its haunches, in-between Oliver's still splayed legs.

Oliver slowly sat up, staring dumbly at the now self-satisfied look on the cat's face. Brows furrowed, he looked up at Cisco, who still looked mildly panicked, now noticing the fox draped over his shoulders.

Movement from Cisco's other side alerted Oliver to a large, completely white wolf with calculating blue eyes, stalking forward.

Oliver let his vision go back to the first wild animal he came into contact with, to see its ears flicker and pivot, seemingly in response to the wolf's approach. The two animals met each other's gaze, and the cheetah let its tongue loll out of its mouth happily.

Did...cats do that?

"Can someone explain what this is. Now." Oliver ground out, grabbing Diggle's out stretched hand and standing up, brushing off his pants and then plucking at his shirt, ascertaining the damage done.

"Well." Cisco started, when a snowy barn owl fluttered over and settled on a computer monitor closest to Felicity, who's jaw dropped in awe.

"I'm," Cisco gestured helplessly, jostling the fox on his shoulder, causing it to nip his earlobe in annoyance.

"Lisa--quit that, that hurts," Cisco tried to glare sullenly, before addressing Team Arrow again, "I'm a little out of my depth here."

"The--" Oliver cut himself off, squinting as a moving black dot made its way onto the white wolf's paw. The wolf snorted at it, ducked its head to gently pick up the thing with its canines, and dropped the dot on its back.

"Is that a fire salamander?" Felicity asked, stepping closer to see, but stopped when the cheetah and white wolf both pinned her with a stare.

"Yes, STAR Labs is now a zoo. I'm _that_ kind of crazy scientist now. Now that this is established. Can we please figure out how to get them back?" Cisco practically whined.

"Back?" Diggle echoed, still eyeing the cheetah warily.

Cisco blew out a sigh, not even reacting when the fox flicked its tail playfully in his face.

"Introductions, right. Lisa," Cisco jerked a thumb at the fox on his shoulder, then continued.

"The owl is Caitlin."

"What."

"That's Barry."

Oliver's brows furrowed as he followed Cisco's finger to the cheetah.

"Oh, you little shit." Oliver grumbled.

Barry just chuckled. Could cheetahs chuckle? It was a near thing.

The wolf regarded him with a cool stare.

"I'm guessing the wolf is Snart."

"Bingo."

"Is--" Felicity broke out into giggles, "Is that tiny little fire salamander on Snart's shoulder Rory? That--That's hilarious!"

Oliver just ignored when the wolf's mouth twitched up into something like a smirk. Because that absolutely wasn't possible.

"You know, because he's so tiny now! He's usually a big guy. Like a really big guy." Felicity trailed off, as she noticed Cheetah-Barry wiggling where his eyebrows would be if they were defined like a human's were.

"Not like that!!" Felicity stumbled out. Oliver shook his head, far used to Felicity's...awkward by now.

"Dare I ask, why are Barry, Caitlin, and three Rogues...animals?" Oliver ground out, annoyed at having to go through great pain to pull the answers from Cisco.

"Well, Mardon is here too. And so is Bivolo. But Biv is a mantis shrimp and Mardon is an eel."

"What?"

"They're in separate tanks. Shawna is...somewhere. I think. She's a chameleon. Walker is a hyena."

"That..."

"But rest assured when he wouldn't stop laughing, Snart grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and dragged him somewhere else in the labs."

"Cisco, are you okay?"

"It's been a day." Cisco mumbled. Lisa nipped at his jaw. Cisco just sighed in response and ran his hand through his hair. He then gently untangled Lisa and dumped her on Felicity's shoulders, "I need to take a whiz. Watch them." And he flounced out of the room.

Felicity stood deathly still as Lisa not-so-gently smacked her tail in the blonde's face as she jumped to the ground and made her way over to Barry and Len, settling in between them.

"Anyone else feel like they've walked into the Twilight Zone?" Diggle mumbled to Oliver's left.

Felicity flinched when she felt air being displaced near her ear as Caitlin swooped off of the monitors and into a lazy circle around them, flapping her long wingspan up and pushing herself into the rafters. Owl-Caitlin then cocked her head at all of them from above.

"...Yes. Yep. This is definitely the weirdest thing that's happened recently." Felicity agreed, staring up at Caitlin's unblinking eyes.

"Don't jinx it. I swear any time one of us says that, something weird happens later to top it." Diggle all but hissed, " _Especially_ in Central."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi my name is Aislynn and I can't write Flash fanfic without bringing Len and/or the Rogues into it (hiiiii aislynn) 
> 
> This'll be part one...I have a couple more ideas for this particular bit. :)


	5. Jailbreak: Phone Edition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cisco makes some not-so-legal improvements to Barry's phone. But really, no one's complaining. Texts are, after all, more convenient. Even if you are a serial texter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suppose this'd have to come somewhere before chapter 3.

"Heeeey, Cisco?"

"What's up?"

"You're the technology expert, right?"

"Flattery will get you everywhere. What's up, dude?"

Barry grimaced and held up his phone, "I froze it."

Cisco frowned, "Uh. Have you...tried turning it off and on again?"

Barry levelled him with an unamused stare. "Yes, but I keep crashing it whenever I try to text. My thumbs go a little over board and either the phone over heats or I freeze the operating system by entering commands too quickly; the phone thinks it's all at once." He explained, setting his phone down on the table.

Cisco looked intrigued, "I wonder if we can speed up the input on your keyboard?"

"As long as you don't piss off my network provider, I'm fine with you trying anything. If you think general lag is bad, try having accelerated thoughts." Barry rubbed his hands over his face, "Augh, these days I find myself getting impatient microwaving minute meals. Anything to lessen waiting times--I'm all for it."

"Cool! I'll get this back to you in a couple of days, then." Cisco promised. He looked at the phone and looked at Barry, "So does that also include video buffering?"

Barry scowled, "Absolutely. I thought I was a patient person before. I really did." He sighed and looked down at his watch, "I'm--late for work! Bye, Cisco, I'll meet you at Jitters for lunch?" Barry barrelled through, grabbing his jacket and his bag, then backed out of the room slowly, waiting for Cisco's response.

"Yep, hasta luego, Speedy Gonzalez." Cisco saluted Barry jauntily.

Barry gave a wide smile in response and turned on his heel, only narrowly missing running into the door frame.

Cisco laughed, "Some things never change." He commented to himself, having heard from Iris (one of the many times she sat at Barry's bedside) that he was clumsy before the lightening. He cracked his fingers and set Barry's phone next to his desktop computer, plugging the phone in with one of his USB cords he had on hand.

"Let's do this." Cisco said, hyping himself up and wiggling his fingers maniacally.

-x-

Felicity looked down at her phone that had started buzzing non-stop. She made to answer, assuming it was a phone call--but saw it was a flurry of texts instead.

Barry? Now Felicity was confused. She remembered some odd weeks ago why Barry never texted.

("Calling is a lot faster for me. I freeze my phone texting--it's kinda frustrating. I mean, you can text me if you want but I'll probably call instead of text back about it." Barry shrugged. Felicity had noticed Barry tended to do that before he explained. The few times he had texted her was garbled letters and horribly flawed text-speak.)

> Received from Barry Allen: ayyy  
> hey hi  
> cisco made nerd love magic & sped up my phone  
> guess who'a back  
> back again  
> who's*  
> but yeah can text again  
> im like all the cool kids now  
> [sunglasses emoji]

Felicity just let out a laugh.

"What are you giggling over?" Oliver grumbled, fighting with the seam on his Arrow boots.

"Nothing," the blonde answered, figuring Oliver would find out sooner or later.

Felicity just giggled again at his incredulous look when Oliver's phone started buzzing non-stop on the table. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: if anyone sees an error please don't be afraid to tell me! I found like...3 in this chapter alone (hours) after it was posted. Someone save me. :')


	6. If You Are Wise You'll Listen To Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As hinted by the title, continuation of chapter 3, "I've Got Another Puzzle For You". So, more casual dick and sex talk, as well as nudes.  
> Because what friendship isn't complete without gassing each other up? Aye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember when I said I "low key" loved social media in fanfic? I meant high key.
> 
> Also I'm sorry if Barry's text speak is irritating but I just imagine him trying to take every short cut he can to take less time  
> I mean I'm not going into extremes with it because I would annoy myself, to be honest.

<Sent to vroomvroom 12:32: Barry

 

>Received 12:33: hmm

 

< [sent image attachment]

< It's finally back to a normal colour

 

> oh wow um

> just wow. ok that 1 is actually p hot.

> why r u makin a hang 10 gesture tho

> is tht a cali thing

 

< I'm not? I'm just lifting up my shirt

< Oh I guess it does kind of look like...Listen just because I live in California

 

> i cant believe u actually posed for this, abs n all

> tht hip bone tho

> damn come on

> like it doesnt look half assed

> definitely not half cocked [lmao emoji]

> like--i thought u might hve gotten the rong #?

> wtf ollie how do u get off hvin an attractive dick when most genitalia is not attractive

 

< Well I do get off

 

> i walked into tht 1

 

< And I do have to thank you you're very much helping my ego

 

> like it needed any help

 

< But you look good, too, Barry

 

> ?

 

< Objectivity.

 

> uve lost me

 

< Your dick Barry

< Your schlong

< "Tralala"

 

> ffs pls stop

> when hve u ever seen me naked tf

 

< We've showered together? After the shit show that was the Trickster Duo in Starling, you, me, Dig, and Roy were in the communal shower scrubbing weird gunk off

 

> oh yes tht

> when i felt like the tiniest thing ever

> im so salty u dont understand

> im taller than all of u

> n yet all of ur bulkiness makes me feel like a bean pole again

> i swear im not! i hve muscle now :(

 

< Do you?

 

> :(

 

< Well your upper-body is pretty trim and lean compared to ours, yeah, but your thighs are killer.

< Like killer. You could probably crush a man's skull in between them.

< And they'd probably be fun to play with. Or to have wrapped around your waist

 

> omg ollie

 

< I mean if I were into that

 

> ollie

 

< And I'm not.

 

> ollie

 

< Objectivity you're very hot

 

> you've imagined my thighs wrapped around you? :^)

 

< Barry you little shit

< We all have odd sex dreams about our friends ok

 

> awww the 1st time he admits were friends and its in the same sentence as "sex dreams"

> at least take me to dinner 1st

> n if i were adept at dick jokes this is where id say "n then ud see im not little" but ya knoww

 

< Barry shut up ok

< It took three weeks for that orange to completely go away

< So three weeks of abstinence

 

> u poor beautiful man child

 

< So my libido was just confused ok

 

> am i ur gay awakening ollie

 

< Barry what the hell

 

> dont b shyyyy

> watch out ppl of Starling, play boy billionaire™ oliver queen has recently realised he is also into men. no 1 is safe. hide ur kids. hide ur husbands and wives. he seducin every1 out here.

 

< Barry no I'm very much into women

< Was very much into them last night, in fact

 

> ew ollie tmi

> i dont want to hear fragile masculinity fuelled straight sex

> i mean if i asked itd b different but

> i dont give u details when i do the do damn

> unlike some ppl i dont have to go every other day in order to keep my sanity n not question my sexuality

 

< It was a dream it meant nothing

< Since when have you gotten any since I've known you.

 

> ok.

> ok rude.

> i was in a coma 4 9 of the 1st months u knew me, ok, in my defence.

> n the subconscious knows what it wants

> did u think of me when u were taking tht "selfie"

> 8)

 

< I did take it to send to you

 

> i feel so special lmao

> he posed just for me

> swoon

> so u were thinking of me 8D

> u sure ur straight?

 

< Barry

 

> shut up?

 

< Yes

 

> ....

 

< Just say it

 

> can i put "oliver queen's gay awakening" on my resume

 

< I'm really not gay. I'm into chicks.

 

> as uve said be4

> but theres this magical thing called a spectrum of sexuality

> n this other magical thing called "u can still like woman n men"

> 2 dumb it down u could b like 90/10, preference 4 women

 

< ...Hm

< I'm guessing you know yours

 

> my what? 

> my sexuality?

> im bi m8

> if u have any questions or just want to talk abt it im here 4 u

 

< Thanks, Barry.

 

> conversely if u want me 2 judge ur nudes be4 u send them 2 other ppl im still here 4 u

 

< Well doesn't that seem unfair?

 

> ?

 

< I've already sent you two dick picks and I haven't gotten any in return

< Granted the first one looked like a glorified cheeto 

 

> oh

> oh no im not

> not good at that

 

< The only way to get better is practice

< [eye emoji]

 

> ollie it almost sounds like you want my nudes

 

< Back when I was in college with Tommy we were part of this group chat where we just sent each other nudes and talked about dumb shit

< I kinda miss it

< I don't know but it was fun and body positive so

 

> is tht why there was so many of ur nudes leaked

 

< Yeah probably

 

> i mean they were gone n the accounts were suspended after

> damn i forgot abt that until now

> i was still in highschool

> u shld hve heard the girls it was bizarre

> idk abt a group chat or even taking nudes

> i hve a lot of scars

 

< So do I

 

> ok but on u they look hot 

> mine r large n in charge

 

< You're deflecting

< This is why a body positive nude group chat would be good for you

< [sent image attachment]

 

> did u just send me a gotdamn 'send nudes' meme

 

< Tommy's been introducing me to memes

 

> ofc he has

> hes corrupting u ollie

> stay in the light theres no going back

 

< I sent him a screenshot of this and he says “thank you”

< He is also down for the nude group chat

 

> am i being peer pressured into this

 

< 8D

< Also I thought you said you were down for more nudes from me

 

> did u just use my emoji against me

> asdffijdjjd fine u make a compelling point

> oo shit hold on i went over my lunch break gotta go

 

< [eggplant emoji] [tongue emoji] [water emoji]

< Bye Barry [bye emoji]

 

> oh my god tommy really is corrupting u

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part of me wants to do another continuation with Iris looking through Barry's saved pictures and she just sees both dick pics. "Barry??? What? Wait... I recognise those abs... BARRY WHAT??? Wait why is this one orange"
> 
> All emoji names are the words you type in when the "Predictive Text" suggests you an emoji to use instead of the word you just typed. In case anyone was confused by that.
> 
> Up next chapters (tentative schedule), because I need to bring in the other characters into focus, Caitlin and Cisco. The next chapter after will be Dig and Felicity. Then maaaybe Tommy, Laurel (possibly also her dad?), and Thea fucking with Oliver. But then I realise I also have Eddie in the tags and I love him.... if anyone has any ideas let me know! I do have more stuff with Oliver and Barry being the focal points already written out but like I said... the other members of the team needs more love now haha. xxxx


	7. Hold, Please

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, not every day is some life threatening disaster with an end-boss level like villain. But that doesn't mean Barry's not busy, and sometimes his sister kind of... drives him up the wall. And if Cisco makes another song reference about a telephone, Barry is just going to quit all Wednesdays for the foreseeable future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not the best, but I'm trying to get my writing groove back. Enjoy!

So far Flash had happened on a suspect resisting detainment by attempting to pants the arresting officer, a group of preteens--who couldn’t actually drive--trying to commit grand theft auto with bobby pins (safe to say, it didn’t work, and he just dropped them off at their parents’ houses), Axel Walker--who was defacing public property with a bedazzler ( _ “Heyya, Flasher! See, someone tagged this building but I thought their artwork needed some sprucing up! So, really, I’m doing a justice to this community!” _ ), and three cases of petty theft in increasingly strange places (who robs a container store?), two dog burglars, five very specific misdemeanors, what would have been a fatal traffic violation, and (finally) a break in at a bedding company. The last, he had been dealing with for the past half hour now. 

 

_ Today’s been just a hell of a day, and it's barely two o'clock, _ Barry thought to himself incredulously, tying an honest to God goon in a jester hat up with superspeed. He didn’t know what it was about Wednesdays, but apparently the day brought out a whole lot of… weirdos. 

 

"Hey, so, Iris has been calling you non-stop for the past ten minutes," Came Cisco’s voice, buzzing through the comms. Barry furrowed his eyebrows, having ducked into a crotch to avoid a chair that was thrown at him by an angry looking female bodybuilder with scales painted up and down her bare forearms.  _ I’m a little busy, Iris! What could she possibly wan---oh. I was supposed to meet her for brunch to help her with that essay. Oh shit, _ Barry abruptly stood, startling the smallest of the bodybuilder’s underlings, causing the boy in a mouse suit--Barry can’t make this up, he wishes he could--to trip backwards on an empty cardboard box and sending him careening into the bodybuilder herself. In a stroke of pure luck (for Barry) this caused the woman to slip also and knock herself out on the conveyor belt. The conveyor belt that was still running. With a janitor tied up and strapped it. Typical. 

 

Barry let his eyes flicker over to the janitor who was very slowly inching his way to an animated assembly line. Calculating how much time he had to subdue the rest of the group before the janitor could reach that point, Barry had only just turned in time to see one of the woman’s thugs charging at him. Barry let the world around him slow, feeling a slipstream form about his person as he easily dodged the man and positioned himself on the man's other side. Barry blinked and his perception slowed down once more and the world sped up to meet him.   
  
"Oo--um. Can you patch her through the comms and just...stay silent so she can't hear you?" Barry asked, breathlessly as he grabbed the leg of the particularly bulky thug in--(someone help Barry)--some sort of holographic mash up of something that might have been regal looking if the ensemble didn’t scream ‘Prince Poppycock reject costume’, pivoted on the balls of his feet, and threw him into several cardboard cases of feather down blankets. 

 

Because, apparently, robbing feather and blanket manufacturing warehouses was cool now.  _ In their defense,  _ Barry thought, righting himself and wiping sweat off of his brow,  _ Pillows are pretty expensive. Although, it doesn’t explain the… theme.  _   
  
"Uh, sure dude.  _ Un momento _ ," Cisco replied after a couple of beats, clicking his tongue against his teeth as he fiddled with the system. Barry heard a couple of clicks, heavy static, and then--   
  
" _ Bartholomew Henry Allen! _ " Lovely.    
  
"Hey, I," Flash started, ducking another goon’s punch.   
  
" _ You have some nerve. You missed breakfast this morning. _ " Her voice was taking on a shrill quality that Barry wasn’t overly fond of.    
  
"Sorry, I--" Flash dropped to the ground and kicked out his leg, swiping the assilent's legs out from underneath them, making them groan loudly in pain, "--overslept." He spoke the last word loudly, hoping to drown out the background noise. There was a beat of silence and then another guy ran at him.   
  
" _ Of course you--uh. Barry? What was that? _ " Iris’ impatient tone turned curious.   
  
Barry had punched that guy solidly in the chest and it had made a satisfying thump,  _ that apparently Iris can hear? Who made these microphones, Hartley? _   
  
"I, uh, ran into someone," Barry got out, and sped to the janitor, untying him and setting him on even footing. The janitor nodded at him and pulled out his mobile, presumably to call the police to pick up the plethora of oddly dressed unconscious thugs. Which, Cisco probably had already done anonymously, but it didn’t hurt to be extra thorough. 

 

Flash waved jauntily at the janitor and made to speed back to STAR Labs. Of course, a quarter of the way there Barry noticed something going down at the gas station at his immediate left.  _ Better to be safe than sorry,  _ Barry thought, deciding to investigate further.  __

 

Coming to a stop, he saw three men in ski masks.  _ Of… course.  _ Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Barry flashed into the corner store and clicked his tongue. The cashier slumped in relief, stumbling backwards and holding himself up on a shelf.    
  
" _ Well, you're being rude--ignoring your sister. _ " Iris ground out. Barry probably had missed something she had said before.    
  
"I'm not ignoring you! Don't be ridiculous!" Flash admonished, maybe a bit louder than he intended. The robbers hitting the corner store looked at him oddly, one of them even asking the cashier, "Is he talking to us?" Barry waved them off, mouthing, ‘not you.’ The one with the ski mask nodded slowly while the one with the bandana around the lower half of his face looked incredulous. 

 

“Hold on, I’m going to have to talk to you later,” Barry rubbed his hands over his face and pressed his hand over the back of his comm link twice in a row, muting his side.

 

“Uh, excuse me. That was rude, sorry. Anyway, why don’t we just call this a day, maybe? Make this easier on all of us and turn yourselves in?” Barry questioned. Not that tactic ever worked but. It never hurt to try. 

 

“ _ Barry Allen, did you just mute me? _ ” Barry grimaced at Iris’ voice, but studiously ignored her in favour of looking at the robbers expectantly. 

 

“And what’s in it for us?” One of the masked robbers asked.

 

“A lighter sentence and possible waived misdemeanor charge versus the sentence you would have gotten if you were inevitably caught?” Barry pointed out, “You guys look pretty young,” he continued, with a frown.

 

“I recognise the bandana asshole in the middle, it’s my dumbass cousin. He’s seventeen,” The cashier spoke, arms crossed and standing straighter, having gotten over being startled.

 

Barry blew out a breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. 

 

.

.

.

 

Surprisingly, the situation turned out better than Barry had thought. After one of the masked guys had been identified, the cousin of the cashier took off his ski mask and burst into tears, falling to the floor and clinging to Barry’s leg, sobbing about not wanting to go to jail and, “I just wanted to be cool and join their gang!” 

 

The officers called to the scene looked as perplexed as Barry awkwardly patted the boy koala-holding his leg on the back. 

 

Needless to say, the small gang initiation didn’t go as planned. 

 

-x-

 

Barry stepped out of the gas station after giving his statement and double tapped his comms, “Hey, I think I’m--”

 

“ _ Barry.”  _ Iris’ voice came, sounding very irritated.

 

Barry stopped cold. He had muted his comms for a good twenty minutes. He had really expected Iris to have hung up on him.  _ Never underestimate Iris’ stubbornness,  _ he reminded himself. He could almost picture her having put him on speakerphone the moment he muted his mic to work on a report for one of her classes, not hanging up so she could continue grilling him. Sisters.

 

“Ha, sorry about that. I, uh, had to deal with, you know. Work.” Barry stumbled out. 

 

“ _Mmmhmm,”_ The amount of sass in those drawn out syllables made Barry cringe. She was definitely going to have it out for his ass later. Sucking in a breath, he pulled the speed force into himself; feeling lightening burn his eyes, shoot down his legs, and then he was off.

 

-x-

 

Upon reaching STAR Labs, his comm link went off again.

 

“ _ Just  _ what _ was that loud static noise? _ ” Iris asked harshly, having been startled by the offending noise. It took Barry a couple of seconds to figure out exactly  _ which  _ offending noise she was on about, but (given that he was never a slow thinker before the lightning) it didn’t take him long to figure it out.

 

So the static interference from his running wasn’t filtered out when transferred to mobile devices like it was for the communication channels. They would have to fix that. And by ‘they’ Barry meant Cisco. 

 

“Sorry, I was going through a tunnel.” Barry excused, causing Cisco to look up at him from his latest project.

 

“ _ What? Barry, what in the world _ \--” Now, in the Cortex, Barry noticed that both Iris’ voice and his own echoed on the communication hub.  _ Poor Cisco.  _

 

“Actually, I’m _still_ … going through the _tunnel_ ,” Barry spoke, stressing his words and giving Cisco a meaningful look, making a ‘cut it’ gesture with his hand near his neck. Cisco lit up and posed dramatically with his fingers near the control panel. 

 

“ _ Barry, don’t you dar- _ -” Yeah, Iris was going to kill him later. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Can call all you want, but there's no one home, and you're not gonna reach my telephone!" Cisco belted loudly.
> 
> "Cisco." Barry moaned, laying sprawled face down on the floor for--God, what?--the fifth time that day? 
> 
> "Sorry, but dude. It's stuck in my head now," Cisco spoke, absolutely unapologetically. 
> 
> \--
> 
> And then (even though I combed through this countless times) tomorrow I'm going to reread this and find 10+ more errors and scream internally. Just another day. :')


	8. Eddie Thawne aka determined to catch Flash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry looked down at his wrist at a telltale click to see a metal cuff around it. He looked up just in time to see Eddie swallow the key. 
> 
>  
> 
> "...Seriously?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hi! This isn't really fleshed out or anything. But! I've had it in my drafts for a while and I was thinking of making it into a larger one shot. But I'm a little stuck. I figure I'll put it out on here, though, see if anyone maybe has any suggestions on where they could see it going? Low key, eventually I want to do a Roadrunner/Wile E. Coyote bit because.... I think it would be hilarious. Anyway, enjoy~
> 
> *Edit--At this moment in time, Joe's the only one (outside of STAR and Starling) that knows Barry's you-know-who. But, the other cops (sans Eddie, because man if I got beaten up by the "good guy" I'd be pissed too) seemed to have been warming up to Flash a little. To give y'all the relative time zone this is in.

Barry looked down at his wrist at a telltale click to see a metal cuff around it. He looked up just in time to see Eddie swallow the key. 

  
"...Seriously?"

  
  


“Yep,” Eddie said, popping the ‘p’. 

 

Barry squinted at him. “You know, I could get out of these.”

 

“Yes, but if you do it by force you could hurt me. Then you wouldn’t be the hero everyone seems to think you are,” Eddie spoke, tone flat and face terse. 

 

Barry blew out a breath. “Do you want to do this right here or take this somewhere private?”

 

“By all means, take me to your dwelling place.”

 

“Nice try. What is your address, Detective?” Barry asked, despite already knowing where the detective lived because he helped Iris move a lot of her things to his place. Best to make it seem like the Flash didn’t, however. 

 

Eddie huffed out a breath and rattled out an address. 

 

“Right. Uh. This is going to be a little odd with the cuffs. If you could hook this arm around my shoulders and I’ll scoop you up like--”

 

“Watch your hands, Flash.”

 

“Sorr--Sorry, I’m sorry. This is--difficult to get you situated with one hand. I promise I’m not trying to feel you up.” 

 

Eddie looked like he wanted to be amused but fought that knee jerk reaction to instead look at Barry’s cowled face with practiced disdain. 

 

“Get on with it.”

 

“Right. You’ll want to hold on. And close your eyes.” The Flash said. And he was off. 

 

-x-

 

Barry stooped down to let Eddie’s feet touch the floor in front of the man’s apartment door. Eddie slumped against him, clutching a red clad shoulder with his free hand. 

 

“I think I’m going to be sick.” He groaned. 

 

“If you puke, please do so not on me. Thanks.” Barry retorted. Eddie pulled back from Barry to glare at him. “...I did warn you.” Flash added. 

 

Eddie scowled and plunged his free hand into his pocket, then pulled out his keys. 

 

Opening the door, he pushed Barry in first, shut the door behind them, and locked it. 

 

Eddie then kicked his shoes off and looked pointedly and Flash’s boots. 

 

“Oh. Uh. Hold on, I have to sit down.” Flash said. Eddie sighed and sat down with him, to be accommodating. 

 

Flash fumbled one-handed with the zippers and clasps ineffectively. 

 

“That looks ridiculously complicated.” Eddie commented, for once his voice wasn’t tinted with a malice or mocking. 

 

“It’s to make sure they don’t come loose when I run. It’s pretty important that they don't. I don’t think I could survive tripping at the speed I run. Not to mention the effect that could have on the people around me at the time I do trip.” Barry explained. Eddie sighed again, and reached forward with his cuffed hand, letting Flash use both hands to make quick work of the clasps. Then Flash tried to tug them off. 

 

“Sorry, this angle is really odd.” He mumbled. Eddie curled his free hand around the back of the heel and tugged with Barry, and repeated with both boots.

 

Eddie then snorted. “Nice socks.” 

 

Flash’s face flushed, not having remembered that he had adorned neon mismatched socks with an obvious nerdy theme. 

 

“Come on, up. I’m not going to sit in the entryway all day.” 

 

“Right.” Barry stood up with him. 

 

For an awkward moment, they both stood there. 

 

“...I didn’t actually think this would work so I have no idea what to do next.” Eddie admitted. 

 

“You could...use a bolt cutter to separate the cuffs and let me be on my merry way?”

 

“Nice try.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I don't think I wrote it in there, but just assume Barry was disguising his voice. Lmao.
> 
> But yeah! Tell me what you think. :)


	9. The Pacifier

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diggle can't believe this kinda BS has happened. Again. Central City's inhabitants were all basically wack, that's for sure. He just hopped he didn't have to deal with a 19 year old Oliver Queen in his playboy-prime for any longer than he had to. Oh, Felicity and Barry were de-aged, too, but they didn't make lewd comments about his (ex-wife? lover? girlfriend?) Lyla when her face popped up on his phone background. Little twit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this all in one go and finished just now, so it's not exactly heavily revised. But man. 
> 
> Timelines are kinda skewed, but... yanno. I'll just refer y'all to my tags and hide behind my creative license.

“Hey, guys!” Cisco greeted when Iris, Laurel, and Tommy walked into the cortex.

 

From Cisco’s right, Diggle gave him a pointed look, reminding Cisco non-verbally about being careful with secret identities. Originally, Team Arrow was going to go to Central to look into a weird meta incident; but after Felicity blurted to Laurel that they were going to Central for Queen Consolidated business, Tommy had excitedly invited himself and Laurel along, citing that they needed a vacation from Star, anyway. From there, Barry introduced Iris and Laurel, who hit it off well enough for him and Oliver to slink away to do what Team Arrow actually came to Central to do.

 

“So, we’re not exactly sure what happened, besides general vague hand-wavy meta powers? But, they’re teenagers now.” Cisco flourished to the glass window that separated the treadmill room from the cortex.

 

“They’ve been like this for the past two hours, and no change. They don’t remember anything from what I can tell. I asked them what year it was, and Felicity said it was 2004.” Caitlin added, helpfully.

 

“Felicity? I don’t see her…” Laurel trailed off, squinting through the glass.

 

There was Oliver, in all of his teenage boyish player glory, snooping through the shelves. He had his old long blond surfer hair, and was wearing a flashy outfit Laurel recognised that he had liked to go clubbing in often--back when he, Tommy, and herself were a tight knit group. She felt a weird swoop of nostalgia when he met her gaze through the glass and she tore her eyes away from that particular ghost of her past.

 

Her gaze settled on what she assumed was Barry, who looked practically elven, more angular and skinny that she’d ever seen him, looking down and flipping through a book while sitting on the edge of the treadmill, with long bangs sweeping over his forehead. Every now and then, he’d tug on the drawstrings of his baggy _Central High Track_ hoodie and rearrange his too-long legs.

 

Then there was some… goth girl. The absolute _epitome_ of a goth girl. Black hair, long fringe, many face piercings, a black beanie with a plethora of anarchy buttons on it, a band tee with a long sleeved fishnet shirt under it, various unnecessary layers--just black everything, the whole shebang. She was picking at her black nail polish and tapping a combat boot on the ground impatiently. Laurel didn’t see a bubbly bespeckled blonde girl.

 

“The one in all black.” Diggle pointed out.

 

“...You’re… kidding,” Laurel squinted, staring harder. Felicity, having felt someone gaze at her, looked up and narrowed her heavily lined eyes, forming her black painted lips into a intimidating scowl. Laurel immediately looked away. She _so_ didn’t sign up for this.

 

“Yeah, so that means Barry’s 15 or 16, Felicity is 18, and Oliver is 19.” Cisco listed off, bouncing on his feet.

 

“Barry’s a March baby, he was 16 for most of 2004,” Iris informed after doing some quick mental math, “But… How in the world did they get like this? Where’s the Flash?”

 

“Ah, well, currently the Flash is trying to track down the Pacifier.” Cisco fibbed to Iris.

 

“Cisco, we are not calling the meta that.” Caitlin grumbled.

 

“They were walking to the QC Applied Science division and they must have gotten ambushed or something, Flash let us know that they were attacked,” Cisco went on, twisting the truth. While it was true they were nosing around in that area, the Flash couldn’t have possibly alerted them, seeing as, _well_. Schematics. It was pure luck Cisco was using a STAR Labs van for surveillance with Diggle, and that Diggle was there to help him cajole the confused trio into the back of the white van. Poor kids.  

 

Tommy knocked on the glass and made a fish face at Oliver, who laughed and stuck out his tongue back in retaliation, pressing his thumb against his nose and wiggling forefingers at Tommy. The action had Felicity scoffing and going back to picking at her nails. Barry continued to be buried in the book, oblivious to the other two in the room.

 

“This is super cool, though. I’ve always wanted to meet some friends at a younger age, and this is literally it.” Cisco said, excitedly, “I say we let them mingle with us.”

 

“You just want to talk to Barry,” Caitlin accused, “And besides, if their mindsets and physical appearance is that of their past selves, the new information could be overwhelming. Even something as small as your touchscreen smartphone will confuse them.”

 

“I’m sure it’s fine, they’re obviously adaptable people.” Cisco waved Caitlin's warnings off. He bounded to the door of the treadmill room and opened it, “Hey, Barry!”

 

Barry looked up, eyes wary.

 

“Come here, dude.” Cisco said, jovily. Barry shut the book quietly, and stood up.

 

“ _Ooo_ , looks like the nerd’s getting in trouble,” Oliver sung out in a falsetto. 

 

“Oh, _please_ , grow up,” Felicity ground out, voice hard. Oliver narrowed his eyes at her, “I don’t know what your problem is,” He started, and was cut off.

 

“I know what _yours_ is--you’re used to having women fawn over you like you’re some second coming of Christ but _news flash_ : you’re just a stupid little fuck boy. You’re about as impressive as a trashcan,” Felicity’s voice easily flowed through the open door.

 

“Listen, you little _freak_ \--” Their voices became muffled as the door closed behind Barry.

 

He had the book he was reading tucked under his arm and he fiddled with a drawstring, a nervous habit, Iris knew, but his nervousness didn’t reflect on his face. Although Barry at 16 was pretty tall for his age, he was extremely lanky and had not filled out at all. Iris smiled lightly, she remembered when he hit the growth spurt back then. Barry had been shorter than her until the summer before their junior year, when he suddenly shot up from 5 foot nothing to practically 6 foot. (She remembered being quite annoyed that she was the shorter of the West-Allen sibling duo.) She hadn’t noticed before as the changes were gradual when Barry hit his early twenties and started gaining the muscle mass to go with his height, but he filled out nicely. Looking at him now, he looked tired and gaunt. _Although,_ Iris mused, _It might be due to the stress and all of the medication his physiatrist put him on_ , she finished the thought, frowning.

 

“We should maybe separate them,” Tommy suggested as the two bickering teenagers behind the glass kept on going at it. His voice had pulled Iris out of her thoughts, and she looked to where Felicity had her hands on her hips and was verbally digging into an incredulous looking Oliver Queen.

 

“I’d love to see Felicity kick his ass.” Laurel teased.

 

“Right, but Bar--oh, where’d he go?” Cisco spun on his heel, looking around. Iris laughed quietly, and pointed to where Barry was hunched over and fiddling with an invention Cisco had been struggling with.

 

Cisco quickly marched to his work bench and Barry, “Hey, you have to be careful with that, it’s extremely volit--wait,” He came to a stop next to Barry, “How--How did you,” Cisco snatched the assembled invention out of Barry’s hands and brought it close to inspect it, “I was working on this for _weeks,_ how did you get it to--you’ve barely--what?” Cisco looked back at Barry, a bewildered expression on his face.

 

Barry stared blankly back at the mechanical engineer.

 

Caitlin smiled and came up next to Barry, laying a hand on his shoulder to get his attention. Which, she did, if the flinch and Barry pulling back from her quickly was anything to go by. The doctor’s eyebrows furrowed. The Barry Allen she knew practically lived through touch.

 

Iris walked next to them and leaned towards Caitlin, “He used to be pretty jumpy. I always had to make sure he saw I was going to touch him before I did.” She explained, voice low, as Barry’s eyes locked on her, scrutinising.

 

“Iris?” Barry finally asked, first time speaking to any of them.

 

Iris beamed at him, “Hey Barr,” She greeted, and reached out her hand to him. He took it and stood up from the chair he had perched on. Iris quickly tugged Barry in for a hug. Barry fumbled awardly with lanky arms, before returning it.

 

Iris pulled back and framed Barry’s face with her hands, “Look at him, isn’t he just the most adorable thing you’ve ever seen?” Barry’s facial expression turned exasperated--which was the most emotion Cisco had seen from the teenager all evening. It was… quite odd, when the Barry he knew wore his emotions on his sleeve. Iris laughed and dropped her hands from Barry’s face and gave him a cheeky smile.

 

“Okay, but I gotta say, it’s kind of disconcerting that a 16 year old is taller than me,” Tommy frowned, looking up at Barry, who frowned back at him.

“It’s like, two inches, it’s no big deal,” Laurel teased, bumping her boyfriend’s shoulder.

“It’s the principal of the thing!” Tommy replied, incredulous.

 

Barry just shrugged, murmured out a quiet apology before picking back up the book he had discarded, and busying himself with reading it. Tommy cleared his throat awkwardly.

 

“Wait, it’s suddenly quiet,” Laurel pointed out, turning towards the treadmill room, “You have  _got_ to be _fucking_ kidding me.” She deadpanned.

 

Immediately, Tommy started laughing, having followed Laurel’s gaze, and seeing Oliver and Felicity in a full-on angry make out session.

 

Laurel marched into the room, grabbed Oliver by the collar, dragged him off a smug looking Felicity, and pulled him back out of the room.

 

“Whoa, whoa, babe, wait,” Oliver’s placating tone and small smirk was marred by a massive black smudge around his mouth. Laurel wasn’t about to clue him in on it. _Let him suffer._

 

“ _Don’t_ call me babe. Sit,” Laurel pointed at one of the many desk chairs in the room, “And _behave,”_ she stressed.

 

“Yes ma’am,” Oliver sat down and smiled wolfishly at Laurel. Laurel resisted the urge to roll her eyes, turned to her boyfriend, and gestured at Oliver, “How did you put up with this, Tommy?”

 

“Hey, don’t put this all on me, Laurel, you’re friends with him, too.” Tommy said, slinging an arm over her shoulder. Laurel suddenly looked aghast. “Oh my god, I _dated_ him.”

During the exchange, Felicity walked out of the treadmill room. Miraculously, her black lipstick was immaculate, and when Oliver half-leered half-scowled at her, she flicked him off easily before settling next to Barry, who didn’t glance up at her.

 

“Okay, we’ve officially entered the Twilight Zone.” Cisco said, and then held up a finger excitedly.

 

“We are not naming the meta that, either.” Caitlin easily derailed Cisco’s forming train of thought.

 

“Kill joy,” Cisco pouted at her.

 

Diggle just looked up at the ceiling and sighed deeply, “I swear, this happens every time we come to Central.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Oliver was an unapologetic fuck boy, Felicity was an extra^(tm) goth/alt kid (tbh I'm making fun of my high school phase), and Barry was an antisocial genius and literally uninterested in anything except for science and mystery. 
> 
> I just think it's interesting, Oliver pre-island and post-island. Also, goth Felicity???? ?? ???? ? Man. That episode was a trip.
> 
> Low-key, I wanted to be like "hey, younger Barry is Sebastian!" for shits and giggles, but then there would have been two fuck boys in the same room, and this would have been more complicated then it originally was going to be. Lmao. I headcannon younger Barry as being extremely closed off emotionally and distrustful after what happened with his family and having to endure all the bullying he did. Eventually, the West family got him to open up completely into present-Barry , but that wasn't til after he was free from high school and pursuing his passion.


	10. Make Sure Before You Press 'Send'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another continuation of "I've Got Another Puzzle For You" (Ch.3) and "If You Are Wise You'll Listen to Me" (Ch.6). 
> 
> Chatfic chapter. Oliver and Tommy managed to get Barry to form a group chat to send nudes back and fourth to each other with them. And, horror of all horrors, Barry accidentally sends a nude to the wrong group chat. Well, at least he didn't send it to his boss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unfortunately I ran out of the Oompa Loompa chorus, so the title of this chapter doesn't match the textfic chapters. Whoomp Whoomp.
> 
> So, this isn't over text messaging. It's some unnamed social media that supports chat-based messenger. Just go with it. :')
> 
> All grammatical errors in this chapter are on purpose. It's to give that good-good chat-aesthetic. Rest assured, it's not as bad as Barry text-speak. (I don't think anyone uses perfect grammar in chats, really. If you do, you're a rare breed and I salute you.)
> 
> Enjoy!

 

_{Group Message: Thomas Merlyn, Oliver J. Queen, Barry Allen}_

 

_/ Yesterday 23:27 /_

Tommy: the beauty of a full length mirror selfie is... [image attachment] i don't even gotta do weird ass angles to get my good sides mwahaha

Barry: snatched

Ollie: Barry what the hell does that mean

Barry: SNATCHED

Tommy: lmfao

 

_/ Today 17:34 /_

Barry: I HATE YOU TWO

Tommy: love you too babe

Ollie: [eye emoji]

Barry: I SENT THIS

Barry: [image attachment] TO THE WRONG GROUP CHAT

Tommy: those thighs though [heart eyes emoji]

Ollie: I mean... your junk is covered and your face isn't in it

Barry: ok but--these are really tight boxers, you can see my ass cheeks very clearly bc boxers are needlessly short in the back--also abs and thighs are spread and ITS OBVIOUSLY A PROVOCATIVE POSE I HATE YOU TWO

Tommy: i mean.... come over...

Ollie: Who did you send it to, your boss?

Tommy: at least you sent your best

Barry: oh fuck I think my boss would fire me for harassment thank God I didnt send it to him

Barry: no it was a group chat

Barry: with like....four other people

Barry: only two of them have seen it and responded but the other two havent

Barry: but guys...Im freaking out

Tommy: what did they say

Barry: uh one was just a bunch of heart emojis, the other one was "hot damn was it that for us?"

Ollie: Who did you send it to

Barry: uhhHHHHHH

Ollie: Barry

Barry: the Snarts, Rory, Rathaway

Ollie: Barry no

Tommy: hartley rathaway? that nerdy vicious twink that was at the galas? ollie you remember him right? he made those things bearable he took no shit

Ollie: Yes I remember him, vaguely

Tommy: ofc apollo over here was too busy with his tongue down a model's throat

Ollie: Apollo?

Tommy: adonis. slip of the thumb.

Ollie: ....

Barry: Hartley and sister Snart replied

Barry: I think Im going to delete my existence before the other two see it

Ollie: Barry why the hell do you have a group chat with criminals

Barry: weeeellllllllllll long story but

Barry: Lisa and I exchanged social media after the haunted house thing

Barry: and at first it was Hartley and Lisa, and after like a month Lisa added Snart and Rory. Rory literally never says anything but you can see he sees things? And Snart keeps sending puns and dumbass memes its great

Barry: so maybe it’s not really a long story

Barry: but I think I may have single handedly killed the chat

Tommy: death by nude.... it was a good nude though

Tommy: it could have been worse, you could have sent the one with you in the jockstrap

Barry: I think the embarrassment would actually kill me if I sent one of those

 

-x-

 

_{Direct Message: Oliver J. Queen, Barry Allen}_

 

_/ Today 17:43 /_

Robin Hood: Do they know who you are? Is your identity compromised?

Zip Zip: uhh Snart and Hartley do idk about Lisa and Rory

Robin Hood: Barry.

Zip Zip: in my defence, Hartley is kinda part of my team? But hes also besties with Lisa... who is trying to seduce Cisco so its not all bad

Robin Hood: Rory burnt down a chili dog stand in Starling last week

Zip Zip: oh I had no idea... probably was an affront to food. Rory takes his food seriously

Robin Hood: Stop defending them

Zip Zip: ....Im not... besides we did that Halloween thing together. You and Rory seemed to get along great

Zip Zip: oh fuxk my phone buzzed

 

-x-

 

_{Group Message: Thomas Merlyn, Oliver J. Queen, Barry Allen}_

 

 _/_ _Today 17:44 /_

Barry: [screenshot:]

 

{{Blinded by science: [image attachment]

Can you hear me: [heart emoji] [heart emoji] [heart emoji] [heart emoji] [heart emoji] [heart emoji] [heart emoji] [heart emoji] [heart emoji] [heart emoji] [heart emoji] [heart emoji] [heart emoji] [heart emoji] [heart emoji] [heart emoji]

Goldie: hot damn was that for us? [water emoji]

Lit [fire emoji]: nice

Can you hear me: Oh shit he speaks

 _Seen by Snowhunk [snowflake emoji]_ }}

 

Barry: IM SCREAMING

Barry: WWHAT DO I SAY

Tommy: 'no lol'

Barry: ...what

Barry: guys...Snart seened me rip

Ollie: Get a new phone, change your number, block their numbers, never talk about it or them again

Tommy: why are you so extra (tm)

Tommy: barry can have other friends, don't be jelly belly

Tommy: plus this isn't text group chats, he can't block their numbers. it wouldn't do anything

Ollie: Block their accounts, delete your account, make a separate one under a fake name, block their accounts on that one as well

Tommy: oliver lmao, you're too extra

Barry: I should apologise

Tommy: you're over thinkinv this

Barry: im apologising

Ollie: Abort, don't make contact

 

-x-

 

_{Group Message: Hartley Rathaway, Lisa Snart, Leon Wynters, Mick von Brandt, Barry Allen}_

 

_/ Today 17:46 /_

Blinded by science: Guys Im so sorry

Blinded by science: This is so embarrassing

Blinded by science: No this wasnt meant for this chat

Blinded by science: Sorry again

Can you hear me: I'm not even mad, enjoyed that very much

Can you hear me: Eyes have been blessed

Goldie: when you say "this chat" does that mean you meant to send it to another chat?

Blinded by science: ...

Can you hear me: Bartholomew

Lit [fire emoji]: ive sent my dick to Lenny before on accident. youre fine red

Can you hear me: wait no let's go back to the part where Barry is sending his nudes to a group chat that isn’t this one

Blinded by science: I mean... yeah...

Can you hear me: Explain

Blinded by science: Me and two other dudes send nudes what else is there to tell

Blinded by science: Aside from them both being straight apparently

Can you hear me: "straight"

Blinded by science: lmfao right they at least bicurious

Can you hear me: Add me [eye emoji]

Goldie: I am intrigued

Snowhunk [snowflake emoji]: Lisa absolutely not

Goldie: let me live and see beautiful naked men lenny

 

-x-

 

_{Group Message: Thomas Merlyn, Oliver J. Queen, Barry Allen}_

 

_/ Today 17:48 /_

Barry: Hartley is adamant on joining--thoughts

Tommy: yes

Tommy: i haven’t seen that guy in years

Ollie: Barry what the fuck

Barry: so we're all in agreement

Tommy: yes

Ollie: Tommy what the fuck

Tommy: you're not saying no so

_\---Hartley Rathaway was added to the chat---_

  


_{Group Message: Thomas Merlyn, Oliver J. Queen, Barry Allen, Hartley Rathaway}_

 

_/ Today 17:50 /_

_\---Hartley Rathaway changed his nickname to Hartley---_

Hartley: Yes thank you give me like five minutes I'm going to scroll through everything

Hartley: Holy shit

Hartley: Nice

Hartley: Wait a fuckimg minute

Hartley: I recognise that face--Oliver Queen

Hartley: So Tommy must be the dark haired sidekick

Tommy: guilty!

Tommy: hey your parents are assholes and i have thought this way before they cut you off so like if you ever want to shit talk them i'm game

Tommy: alternatively i still see them in person at functions and i could accidentally spill champagne all over them if that was something you wanted

Hartley: Yes

Hartley: Barry I want this one lmao

Barry: that one is taken and the other one is an emotionally constipated fuccboi

Ollie: A what now

Tommy: [image attachment] here's Laurel and i, lookin cute as hell

Barry: aw

Hartley: I'm not even mad, you two are wearing coordinating clothes and everything

Tommy: she was so excited about it

Ollie: What.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mentions of "haunted house thing" and "Halloween thing" is another chapter I meant to do before, but I ended up putting it off. So you'll have a chapter with the Flarrow crew putting on a haunted house and the Rogues 'crashing' it to look forward to.
> 
> **Edit: hey does anyone want to be a pal and help me think of a better story summary? lmao I don't think the current one really fits and I'm fresh out of ideas on how to streamline it.


End file.
